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Takaharu's Training Journal
Entry 1: An Exercise in Focus It was a late start for Takaharu Hyūga as he made his way through the dense vegetation of the forest. Ideally such a trek would have been better suited for the early morning, but a lengthy lecture from the clan elders had delayed his departure. Slowly, but surely, the young man navigated through the labyrinth of trees and vines, all the while keeping his senses keenly focused on the surroundings. "While it doesn't compare to the infamous , the beasts inhabiting this grove are far from docile," Takaharu thought to himself, "In fact, perhaps once I sufficiently clear this area I should take it upon myself to tackle the so called Forest of Death." While the thought of honing his skills in that iconic location did pique his interest, it was far from likely that he would be given permission use it as a personal training ground at his current level. "All the more reason to advance my rank as soon as possible," Takaharu murmured, considering the fact that at the age of twelve he has just barely graduated from the rather disgraceful. After another hour of weaving through the foliage Takaharu finally made his way into a sizable clearing, revealing a large lake hidden in the center of the forest. Sighing in relief that he had arrived, he made his way over to a lone tree stump near the shore of the lake. Leaning his belongings, including backpack and , up against the remains of the tree Takaharu pulled a wooden blade from his bag. Swinging out it front of himself a single time, the Hyūga nodded in approval and the weight and balance of the weapon. It had taken some time, but Takaharu had specifically requested one the heaviest training swords available from the for his own personal use. Having decided to hone his skills not simply as member of the Hyūga, but as a swordsman as well, he needed to accelerate his training as much as possible. Stepping out onto the lake's surface, Takaharu walked about a hundred meters out until he was surrounded by water on all sides. While his chakra control had only just recently developed to the level where he could achieve this feat, his familiarity with the act of walking on water was still underdeveloped. While it was no trouble to simply walk in this manner, fighting on the water's surface was an entirely different challenge. Coming here today was to specifically hone the ability to keep his balance on the lake while moving and executing attacks. Taking a deep breath Takaharu began his swings with the weighted blade, exhaling after each strike. Controlling his breathing, his technique form, and his posture on the water's surface all at once was a daunting task for the . One of Takaharu's feet would occasionally slip beneath the surface of the lake for a moment, breaking his concentration and rhythm. Restarting his count each time he faulted, Takaharu continued to strike the air in front of himself for over an hour before finally making it to a thousand consecutive strikes. Sweat dripping from his brow the fledgling swordsman relaxed his arms let the breeze pass over him for moment before eyeing the shore. While he had drifted a bit from his original location, due to the minute movement of the water, he was still roughly a tenth of a kilometer away from the shore. Looking down in the depths of the dark water beneath his feet, the Hyūga stared for a moment before shrugging and returning his gaze to the shoreline. "Perhaps next time," he commented before concentrating chakra onto his feet and towards solid ground. "Still two steps..." Takaharu sighed, hoping to have crossed that distance in a single bound. Packing up his wooden sword and reequipping his gear, the young shinobi delved back into the forest on his way home. While he would prefer to stay the night on the lake, and get an early start on training tomorrow, the last thing he wanted was the entire clan thinking he had either gone missing or was abducted. "Hopefully I'll make it out here tomorrow as well," he thought to himself as he disappeared from view. Entry 2: An Unexpected Foe Once again Takaharu made his way into the depths of the forest and arrived at his personal training location, a secluded lake hidden among the trees. Feeling more confident about his prowess of fighting on the water than before, the young Hyūga repeated his routine of leaving his backpack and true blade on the shore before making his way into the center of the lake. After confirming the distance to be about a hundred meters, much like before, Takaharu began to executing his practice swings, wooden sword in hand. Aloud he counted his strikes, one after another, keeping his breathing in check and occasionally restarting if his form didn't live up the standards he had set for himself. After about a half an hour Takaharu had finally reached a thousand consecutive strikes. For just a moment the young man couldn't help but smirk. While rare, he definitely appreciated being offered tangible proof that his skills were growing in response to his training regiment. Shaking his head the swordsman quickly pushed the thoughts from his mind. If were to be satisfied with something like this,then his motivation would become too lax. In response his growth rate could be negatively influenced, and in the worst case scenario his skills could diminish under the complacency. Centering his focus once again, Takaharu began his true training exercise for the day. Biting his thumb the young shinobi placed his hand onto the water's surface, his blood diffusing into the lake. While from an outside perspective this act would look like an attempt to use the , his true goal was to alert the inhabitants of the lake of his presence. Much like the Forest of Death, the living creatures of this lake and surrounding grove were known to be particularly hostile and aggressive to humans. In particular, this lake was known to contain a vicious species of piranha beneath its depths, which would swarm a target at the slightest sensation blood in the water. While considered a delicacy by some select food connoisseurs, Takaharu couldn't say he had any interest in making a meal of inbound frenzy of fish. Taking a deep breath Takaharu closed his eyes and performed the . Gathering chakra in his eyes, the veins around his temples bulge as he activate his clan's , the . Immediately afterwards a small fish burst from beneath the water's surface from behind the shinobi, teeth ready to latch onto his flesh. With a practiced precision, Takaharu rotated his body towards the animal and batted it away with a solid strike of his wooden sword. Following up without delay the young swordsman turned back towards his original direction and knocked away a second fish that attempted to flank him as he struck down the first. From every direction the fish continued to leap from beneath the water towards the swordsman, and each time they were knocked away by shinobi. Unfortunately, after each one of the foes he struck down the more aggressive this fish seemed to behave, as if being denied a meal was fueling their assault. Soon Takaharu found himself avoiding more of their attacks than he was directly countering with blade. "Seems their scales are nearly as sharp as their teeth," Takaharu thought to himself after being grazed on the ankle by one piranhas. As blood trickled down his leg the piranha's assault only increased in intensity, and the young shinobi was forced to retreat farther from shore to avoid their attacks. "Despite successfully delivering far more strikes than them, I may have underestimated their avarice," Takaharu commented aloud as he maintained his defenses. While this may have been different if he would have brought his actual sword, the Hyūga had little intention of carving up hundreds of fish in a single day simply for training purposes. Just Takaharu was about to be overwhelmed by the relentless frenzy, a tingle enveloped his entire body. At that exact moment the barrage of blood thirsty fangs ceased all at once, and the shinobi's attention was drawn to deep beneath the lake's surface. While the distance his could reach was sorely underdeveloped by his clan's standards, Takaharu could make out a faint glow pulsing near the bottom of the lake. Focusing his eyes on the glow, the Hyūga soon realized the source of illumination, a massive eel making its way directly towards him. By the time Takaharu had recognized the creature for what it was, and realized that he himself was the target, it was too late. With the mysterious tingle in his legs still present, the swordsman's reaction time was far from ideal and he was caught in wave wave resulting from the eel emerging from the under the water. Disoriented by his surface being utterly disturbed, Takaharu was pushed several more meters from the shore as the beast attempted to swallow him whole. Eyeing the creature as it slipped back beneath the water before approaching him again, he spied the presence of chakra coursing along its body. While he had heard of some wild animals being able to mold chakra, this was on another level entirely. If his hunch was correct, then the eel possessed the ability to electrify the water surrounding it at will to such a degree than even someone simply in contact with the surface could be hampered by its effects. More importantly, if he was to come in direct contact with that eel's , then he would undoubtedly be stunned long enough to be eaten alive. "Well...," Takaharu sighed, noticing that the quickest way to the shoreline was blocked by the beast of a creature, "...I might be out of my league." Entry 3: Flash of Lightning For Takaharu making an opponent of a giant electric eel was far from wise. On top of it holding a considerable advantage in the lake over the young shinobi, it easily outclassed him in terms of raw speed, strength, and durability. As such, even if he were to sprint towards the shore, there was no way he would make it in time. "If that's the case," the Hyūga barked, eyeing the distance to the shore. He was confident he could make the three hundred meters in five or six under normal conditions, but the combination of the tingling sensation in his legs from the creature's and the stress of the situation was a daunting task. Regardless of the less than ideal circumstances, Takaharu had no choice but to give it a shot. Rerouting chakra towards his feet in a high concentration, the Hyūga was a mere moment from leaping towards his destination just as the beast emerged from the water beneath him. Aborting his intended vector and instead dodging to the side, the swordsman barely managed to avoid a direct strike from the eel by blocking it with his sword. The smell of burnt wood emanated from Takaharu's weapon and a sharp pain radiated through his forearms from the current of crackling energy produced by the creature. While it should be possible that he could make up the difference in speed with the long enough to get to safety, every time Takaharu began to prepare the maneuver the beast attacked. "Can this creature the flow the chakra?" Takaharu thought to himself, narrowly avoiding another lunge of the aquatic monstrosity, the electrically charged droplets of water stinging as they hit his skin. Whether it was more akin to the electroreception, or true chakra sensory, the result was the same. He needed a distraction, one that turned the beast's attention away from him just long enough for him to retreat bad to dry land. "If I was like Enmei, then I could attack this creature at range and make a run for it after getting a clean hit," Takaharu lamented silently, jumping out of range of the eel's electric assault, "...but if this goes on much longer, then I'm definitely going to lose." While he considered using a as a decoy, it would be a costly endeavor for merely a fifty-fifty chance to draw the eel's attention. If that was the case, then perhaps he had no other choice but use to make use of his . Concentrating chakra in his feet once again, the young shinobi released the wooden sword from his grasp as the eel came barreling towards him. Timing his dodge for the moment the eel's body broke the surface of the water, Takaharu quickly wove hand seals before landing back onto the lake. Running his right thumb across his wounded ankle a murder of a dozen crows appeared in a puff of smoke around him. "Disorient the eel without touching it!" Takamaru commanded in a harsh tone, "Its body is covered in an electric current. You're good as dead if you come in contact with it." As the swarm of ebony birds advanced forward, the young shinobi drew a handful of shuriken from the pocket on his side. While far from his specialty, he had no other option at the moment. Hurling the projectiles as the eel rose from beneath the water in front of him, he hoped the combination of the crows and the projectiles would give him the time he desperately needed. While against a target that large it would be hard for even an amateur to miss, the damage was sorely insignificant as the shuriken lodged themselves in the beast's flesh. In fact, all the attack did was seemingly enrage the beast who immediately lunged towards the young Hyūga. Unable to react in time Takaharu stared on his surprise and the eel's coarse was diverted by one of his crow diving into the beast's eye. On contact the crows body lit up with a spark of lightning as it rebounded off of the eel. Meanwhile the eel writhed in pain generating sizable waves of water in response. "This I why I told you not to make contact," Takamaru solemnly commented as he scrambled to scoop the bird from the water in the chaos and reversed the summoning on the small creature. While he may have managed to escape if he had abandonned his crow in the confusion, such an act would have cost him too dearly. "I'll hold out for now," Takaharu commanded the crows, "For now, two of you leave and try to get some help." The eel more wary of the crows as a threat, dove deeper into the lake and planned to approach Takaharu from directly beneath him. Fortunately, this predictable trajectory weakened the offensive potential from the beast as it reduced the time it appeared above the surface. Doing his best to dance around the aquatic creature's attacks, he tried moving closer to the shore. With his chakra running lower from the prolonged fight, he desperately needed to make his move soon. Just as he wondered if someone from his clan would be able to make out here in time, a sheathed blade dropped in front of his face. "That's not quite what I meant when I asked you to get help," Takaharu commented sarcastically as he caught his sword, "...but I guess it will have to do." With the electric shock he would take by making contact with the enemy, he had to make his first strike count. Since his opponent's electrical attack was chakra based he should be able to impede the flow if countered it with his own chakra. Unfortunately, he lacked to skill to his own chakra into a sword, so concentrating it in his hands, similar to his clan's trademark , would have to be good enough. While it wouldn't prevent him from taking any damage, perhaps it would at least limit how much the lightning would spread across his body. Aligning his path to the shore, Takaharu released the summoning technique in various puffs of smoke. As expected the disappearance of the crow's lowered the eel's inhibitions and it readily revealed itself from the depths of the lake in an attempt to engulf the young shinobi. Drawing in his breath as the beast closed in, Takaharu rotated his body as he side stepped in order to first avoid the eel's lunge. Continuing his rotation, he then use his enemy's momentum to increase effective force of his blade as he slashed horizontally across the belly of the overgrown creature. Numbness surged though his arms, and Takaharu winced in pain, but he managed to finish his slice. It was a sloppy cut, and any proper sword intstructor would scoff at his attack, but Takaharu had achieved his intended goal. Concentrating every last ounce of his energy into his legs and feet, Takaharu dashed forward at an immense speed. With each step he bounded closer to the shore. Starved for chakra the power of his eyes receded and his vision blurred and narrowed, but still he raced forward. With his entire body aching the Hyūga leg's gave out from underneath him the moment he arrive on dry land, and his momentum sent him sprawling several meters from the water's edge. "I'm such an idiot..." Takaharu murmured as his consciousness faded. Entry 4: On the Mend Opening his eyes, Takaharu glanced around around the vicinity to find himself in a familiar location. "One way or another, it seems I've made it back home," he thought to himself, taking notice of a dark figure on the windowsill. The crow he sent to fetch aid sit attentively watched him in silence. "You could have returned at any point," the Hyūga groaned quietly, "...but thank you." As if acknowledging his comment, the small bird took flight and quickly disappeared from view. Dull aches and pains radiated throughout his bandage wrapped body. While he was arguably lucky to be alive, Takaharu was frustrated that he had landed himself in such a state. Furthermore, considering it was his own weakness and inexperience that led to this outcome, he couldn't help but desire nothing more than to leap out of bed and rush back to training. Unfortunately, even if he could muster the strength for such a feat, it was unlikely that he would be permitted leave from the Hyūga clan's domain for some time without an escort. Out of all the annoyances of the scenario at hand, the worst was the fact that he still undoubtedly had an intense lecture to endure from his elders. Pushing his impeding predicament from his mind, Takaharu noticed that it was unusually quiet. While it wasn't ever particularly noisy around the Hyūga's household, the lack of sound seemed to suggest that there wasn't anyone present whatsoever. Shrugging at the potential causes of the silence, the young shinobi decided to instead dedicated more of his time to training. "Since I don't have anything else to do other than count leaves," Takaharu silently tried to justify, "I might as well work on my chakra control at the same time." As such, the question was how he could accomplish such a task without further injuring himself in the process. His previous regiment was hardly applicable in this situation, and it wasn't he had an endless supply of techniques to launch off at random. "Seems that meditating and honing the acuity of my vision are my best bets," he decided in a disappointed fashion. Concentrating chakra into his eyes, Takaharu's field of vision expanded considerably and his penetrative gaze even pierced through the walls of his room. While he had possessed the for as long as he could remember, he had never put much effort into refining its abilities and insight. He had be informed by members of his clan that with enough mastery of the it was possible to accurately discern minute details about a target from several kilometers away. Similarly, he had heard more fantastical abilities that the Byakugan seemingly possessed, such as perceiving the thoughts and memories of others. While he was unsure that such a feat was truly possible with his , the prospect of developing his ocular prowess to such a level was intriguing. Focusing his sight on a distant tree, Takaharu began to methodically count the leaves one by one. Managing his perspective was a feat in of itself, as it was easy to simply see through the tree completely. While surely a boring task, being able to hone his vision in this manner would help him when using his dōjutsu in the heat of combat, allowing him to quickly his attention between close and distant foes in a fashion distinctly different than those without the Byakugan. This process continued for some time, and Takaharu became engrossed in the prospect of actually counting all of the leaves. "Forty-four thousand five hundred and seventy-eight leaves." the young sighed at his achievement, "What an incredibly fun task." Having accomplished his first goal, Takaharu then began to trace a path from a vesicle of a single leaf. From there he followed the path through the limbs of the tree, down the trunk, and into the end of a single root. He repeated this process from the roots back up into another individual leaf, and then cycled back into the earth. Again and again he traced the path, studying not one, but several trees whose roots intertwined them into a single living entity. Eventually, after several hours, his vision grew blurry from the overuse of his Byakugan, and Takaharu deactivated the dōjutsu. "I wonder if this will be satisfactory," he wondered internally, "...I wonder if I will be satisfactory." Thinking about his future, and how he may or may not stack up in comparison to his team and to opponents he would face in the future, Takaharu consciousness faded. There was a lot of unknowns that he would encounter in the future, and to some extent that worried Takaharu more than it excited him. Furthermore, he had chosen a path that was more difficult than his average clansman on what many would consider a foolish whim. Regardless, by the next day he would finally have the strength to pull himself up from bed and return to a proper training regiment, but for now the young Hyūga had succumbed once again to his exhaustion. Entry 5: Back to the Grind TBA Category:Training Role-Plays Category:Kazeyo